TMW: Ferrari to Power Cadillac F1 Entry in 2026
GM will need some help to launch in 2026. It's leaning on F1's most iconic brand to make it happen.
The Morning Warmup
Dec. 11, 2024
Today’s Top Stories
1) Ferrari to supply GM team upon 2026 launch (F1)
A Ferrari statement read:
“Ferrari N.V. today announces a multi-year agreement starting from 2026 with Andretti Formula Racing LLC, regarding the supply of power unit and gearbox to the racing team led by TWG Global and General Motors, subject to Andretti Formula Racing LLC receiving written confirmation from the FIA – F1 that its entry to the 2026 FIA Formula One Championship has been accepted and approved.”
The future 11th F1 team entrant - led by TWG Global, backed by General Motors and previously known as Andretti Cadillac - will join the grid when the new aerodynamic regulations start in 2026. That leaves GM with a time crunch to get its cars prepared. The OEM believes it will need until at least 2028 to get its own power unit prepared, so it needed to look for a temporary supplier to avoid delaying its F1 entry.
While being worked on with F1, the GM entry hasn’t cleared all approvals for 2026 at this point. But it’s steadily making steps toward the series. GM confirmed former Manor sporting director Graeme Lowdon as its team principal during the Abu Dhabi race weekend. Tuesday’s news is another leap forward, locking in power units and keeping Cadillac from requiring a mandatory supply deal under the F1 sporting regulations.
Ferrari will continue to operate with two customer teams with the move in 2026. Haas is remaining with the company, while Sauber will switch to Audi power when it becomes a works team.
"It's great to see the commitment of another American team, backed by one of the most highly respected marques in the motor industry, at a time when Formula 1 is increasing in popularity in the United States,” Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said. "We are delighted therefore that we will be supplying the team with our power unit and gearbox as the basis of this technical collaboration. It means we will continue to have two "customer teams" in the championship with all the benefits this brings in terms of technical development within Ferrari."
(Source(s): Ewan Gale / Motorsport)
2) Chili Bowl reducing feature length to 40 laps in 2025 (Dirt)
Sometimes less is more. That’s what promoters of the Chili Bowl Nationals will be hoping in 2025.
Race officials announced Tuesday that the upcoming 2025 edition of the prestigious Dirt Midget race will see its A-Feature shortened from 55 laps down to 40. This is being done in an effort to avoid a sour finish to the week-long event, mitigating the risk of extreme track degradation. Track conditions during the feature have become a point of criticism in recent years.
“Our job is to provide the best surface for these teams to be able to race and put on a show for these fans, and I’ve been talking with Gravel the past few years about Saturday night and what needs to change, and I agree with him, it needs to be 40 laps again,” Chili Bowl co-founder and promoter Emmett Hahn said in a release.
Running 40 laps is nothing new for the Chili Bowl. Instead it’s a step back to the past. The feature was length was extended to 55 laps after the loss of Donnie Ray Crawford in 2012. There will still be a 55-lap race in his honor, but it’s shifting to the Hyper Racing Non-Wing Outlaw feature as part of the preceding Tulsa Shootout from Dec. 30 through Jan. 4.
The Chili Bowl is planned to take place from Jan. 13-18, with the opening five nights hosting preliminary action while the feature takes place on the 18th. Entrants include a returning Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, the debuting Kyle Busch and fellow NASCAR stalwarts Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and JJ Yeley.
(Source(s): FloRacing.com)
3) Formula E reportedly planning new event in Miami to fill schedule gap (Formula E)
With an eight-week calendar gap to fill heading into next year, Formula E is reportedly looking to hold a large-scale event at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium in March.
Note: I said event, not race.
Instead of adding another round to the championship, The Race’s Sam Smith is reporting that the Miami event would be tied to media influencers and serve as a two-day showcase of the Gen3 Evo car.
From the story:
A source close to the plans told The Race at the Sao Paulo season opener that a site visit recently to the home of the Miami Dolphins NFL team "scoped out a likely track configuration in a similar style to a Race of Champions-type event".
This is likely to create an against-the-clock format for celebrity guests to drive the cars, potentially after regular race drivers set a reference time, although the details of the format are yet to be formulated beyond a concept stage.
Heading up the sporting plans for the event is former IndyCar team owner Beth Paretta, who joined Formula E last summer as vice president of sporting.
She is working with recently announced chief marketing officer Ellie Norman and sporting manager Claudia Denni.
While serving as something of a space-filler, the event reportedly wouldn’t be a one-and-done effort. Formula E could use such a concept to fill more of its calendar gaps, which have come under criticism in recent years - particularly as races are unexpectedly canceled.
“If it works brilliantly, I want to be able to scale it in the future,” Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds told The Race. “That’s what we’re working on and we’ll announce something shortly.”
There are still many questions - particularly tied to specifics of the cars being used and how teams will participate. The article reports that there is “a tentative plan to have 11 cars, one for each team,” though “it remains unclear precisely what powertrains will be used in them.”
The hope is to utilize the event to showcase Formula E in a unique way and expose the series, its teams and drivers to people that might not otherwise see it.
(Source(s): Sam Smith / The Race)
Race Recaps
Sim Racing
World of Outlaws Pro Series: It was essentially a dead heat. Conner New snagged a Dirt Late Model victory at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, prevailing by just .0001s over Blake Matjoulis in a classic finish. (Justin Melillo / iRacing.com)
News and Notes
NASCAR
The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi caught up with NASCAR president Steve Phelps for a wide-ranging interview about various NASCAR topics.
NASCAR has made another filing in the antitrust suit with 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. (Jayski)
Jordan Anderson Racing has set its 2025 lineup for the Xfinity Series. (Matt Weaver / Sportsnaut)
A year removed from the sale of his Cup charter, BJ McLeod has no regrets. (Kelly Crandall / RACER)
JR Motorsports is bringing back the stylized No. 8 used by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the early years of his Cup career. Here’s how it looks on Sammy Smith’s 2025 Xfinity Series ride. (JR Motorsports / X)
NASCAR silly season has been underway for months. Heading into 2025, here’s where it stands. (Nick DeGroot / Motorsport)
Two decades on from his memorable title run in the first edition of NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup, Kurt Busch has take a look back on the effort. (Eric Johnson / RACER)
IndyCar
Devlin DeFrancesco will compete full-time for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing next season, piloting its No. 30 Honda in a series return after competing in IMSA this year. (IndyCar.com)
Team owners have reportedly been shown early designs for the 2027 car. Opinions seem to be split. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
IndyCar has named longtime racing industry executive Richard Buck as director of Indy NXT. (IndyCar.com)
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is reportedly working on a full-time IndyCar return when the new car makes its expected debut in 2027. (Joey Barnes / Motorsport)
F1
Charles Leclerc led the way in post-season testing at Abu Dhabi, narrowly edging out former teammate Carlos Sainz as the Spaniard completed his first laps for Williams. (F1.com)
Pirelli’s new, softer C6 tire was used in the testing. It felt it was only good for “part of a lap” in the attempt. (Jonathan Noble / Motorsport)
Yuki Tsunoda made his Red Bull debut in what was essentially a pitch to be Verstappen’s teammate during the test. (Josh Suttill / The Race)
At least one outlet doesn’t seem happy about Cadillac’s upcoming F1 entry. (JohnWallStreet.com)
Some Formula 2 news:
Sebastian Montoya, son of multidiscipline great Juan Pablo Montoya, will step up to the series with PREMA. (Ed Hardy / Motorsport)
Ritomo Miyata is joining ART Grand Prix for the 2025 season. (FIAFormula2.com)
Campos Racing will field Josep Maria Marti, pairing him with Arvid Lindblad. (FIAFormula2.com)
Hitech Pulse-Eight wrapped up its lineup with the promotion for Dio Beganovic. (FIAFormula2.com)
With its title run, McLaren has gone from the brink to the big time in the span of two seasons. (Chris Medland / RACER)
Red Bull tasked sim racer Sebastian Job with piloting one of Sebastian Vettel’s title-winning machines at the Red Bull Ring in October. Here’s a look into how the event went.
Red Bull is also launching a video series about it. Here’s the first of four posted episodes. You can find the rest on the same YouTube channel.
Fresh off the team’s 2024 title, McLaren has vowed to push boundaries with its 2025 F1 car design. (Jonathan Noble / Motorsport)
Exiting Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton has made his final visit to the Petronas Headquarters. (Speed Sport)
The FIA doesn’t plan to investigate Max Verstappen’s “stupid idiots” comment about stewards during the race. (Filip Cleeren & Christian Nimmervoll / Motorsport)
With the benefit of retrospect, here are four key moments that kept Ferrari from securing the 2024 manufacturers’ title. (Filip Cleeren / Motorsport)
Supercars
New Supercars champ Will Brown will make a single-seater return in 2025, contesting a partial season in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship. It’ll be his first single-seater effort since 2019. (Ed Hardy / Motorsport)
Speedcafe has ranked its top 10 Supercars drivers of the 2024 season.
Sports Cars
Pratt Miller Motorsports has wrapped up its Rolex 24 driver lineup with the addition of Callum Ilott and Chris Cumming. (Daily Sportscar)
Former Audi driver Kelvin van der Linde is joining BMW with a works contract next year, but he might not be on the DTM grid next season. (Sven Haidinger / Motorsport)
Conquest Racing has revealed its driver lineup for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. (Daily Sportscar)
Creventic has tweaked its sporting and technical regulations ahead of the 2025 Michelin 24H Series season. (Daily Sportscar)
RAFA Racing and Smooge Racing have merged operations ahead of 2025 with plans for multi-series competition, including Michelin Pilot Challenge, VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Pirelli GT4 America and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
Arise Racing will field a pair of Ferrari in the upcoming Bathurst 12 Hours - the first appearance for the Prancing Horse in the event since 2020. (Daily Sportscar)
Heart of Racing Team is expanding to GT World Challenge America next season with a Pro-Am effort. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
Dirt
Looks like Christopher Bell is coming back to the Chili Bowl Nationals. Check the source for a laugh. (Source: Chase Briscoe / X)
Daming Swanson Motorsports is going full-time USAC Sprint Car racing in 2025. (Race Pro Weekly)
Short Tracks
The 2025 SMART Modified Tour schedule has been revealed. (Andy Marquis / Short Track Scene)
CARS Tour West has a presenting sponsor - Spears Manufacturing. (Speed Sport)
There was much to see in Sunday’s Snowball Derby. Here are the key takeaways. (Mark Kristl / Frontstretch)
Kaden Honeycutt’s big win in the race showed the power of pairing the right people. (Matt Weaver / Short Track Scene)
One of the big surprises of the weekend was Jace Hansen, who delivered an impressive top-five run in an underdog effort. (Chase Folsom / Frontstretch)
Moto
Could Suzuki return to MotoGP? Current president Toshihiro Suzuki is considering a possible return, but is staying focused on his road bike division for now. (Sebastian Franzschky / Motorsport)
All eyes are onto 2025. Here are 11 of the top MotoGP prospects heading into the new year. (Valentin Khorounzhiy & Simon Patterson / The Race)
Rally
Iron Dames is planning an all-female crew for its 2025 WRC2 campaign, pairing Sarah Rumeau with co-driver Julie Amblard. (Tom Howard / Motorsport)
This year’s WRC2 runner-up Oliver Solberg will join Toyota in a GR Yaris Rally2 machine next season. (Tom Howard / Motorsport)
New Hyundai recruit Adrien Fourmaux felt the time was right for him to make the move after his victorious M-Sport exit. (Tom Howard / Motorsport)
Electric Racing
Here are five takeaways from Formula E’s eventual season opener in Sao Paolo. (Sam Smith / The Race)
Oliver Rowland felt that “more than one f— up” cost him a shot at a season-opening Formula E win for Nissan. (Stefan Mackley / Motorsport)
Other
Mercedes F1 rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli missed out on a planned Super Formula test with an apparent illness. (Jonathan Noble / Motorsport)
On Track
All Times ET
Wednesday, Dec. 11
No races scheduled.
-
Thursday, Dec. 12
Other
USAC PRI Show (Not a race): 10:00 a.m., FloRacing
Fast Fact
One of the most iconic drivers of the DEI-era No. 8 (outside of Dale Earnhardt Jr., of course) was Martin Truex Jr. The future Cup champion ran two full seasons in the No. 8 Chevrolet for what was then Chance2 Motorsports in 2004 and 2005, earning 12 wins and taking both championships along the way. All told, Truex made 76 starts with the number from 2003 through 2008, earning 13 victories and leading 1812 laps with an average finish of 8.75. That’s lower than each of the past four series champions.
Special Thanks
The Morning Warmup is fueled by our supporters. They include:
Primary Sponsor: David Colyer
Affiliate Sponsors: Bob and Sally Wichert, Cat Hicks, Jory Fleischauer, Mary Dzuro, Nathan K. Thomas, Spencer Pullins, Tyler Sorenson.
Paddock Supporters: Allison Bodiford, Billy Rowlee, Buzz Baylis, Contessa Nyree, Hannah Landvater, Jeff Brown, John R. Wilson Jr., John Wimmer, Matt Call, Michael S. Lee, Nathan A. Ulery, Seth Whitsel and Sue Parzych.
Want to see your name here? Support Motorsports Beat on Patreon.